The deal between the New Orleans Hornets and the Sacramento Kings does not make Mark Cuban happy as the parameters of the deal left him confused, stunned and angry. "That’s just wrong," Cuban said. "That’s just wrong. That’s just absolutely, positively wrong."
For those who do not know why it would ruffle Cuban's feathers, it is based on the fact that he is helping facilitate this deal as the NBA (the 29 owners) currently control the Hornets. The original buyout of the team fell through in early December 2010 which led to the NBA stepping in and taking control. The NBA completed their purchase of the Hornets from George Shinn in late 2010 for an estimated $300 million. The league set the Hornets’ operating budget and funds the team. This deal creates a form of revenue sharing as the rest of the owners end up paying to facilitate the deal.
"If New Orleans is taking back $2 million and the team is losing money and I own one 29th of it, I'm going to go against the grain and say that's just wrong," Cuban said during his normal interview with the media prior to the game against the Utah Jazz. "There's no way, with their payroll, having to dump salary before they were sold to us (NBA Owners); now they can take on more salary while they're losing money. That's just wrong every which way."
New Orleans sent Marcus Thorton and cash considerations for Carl Landry, who’s in the last year of his contract making $3 million. Thornton, also in the last year, is on the books for $762,195. New Orleans, which is over the salary cap, was able to fit Landry into a trade exception. The Hornets’ payroll did go up about $2.24 million in the process, though that difference is prorated for the remainder of the season. That increase plus the cash paid to Sacramento is what led to the Mavs owner being upset as he is a regular when it comes to paying the luxury tax. "All I know is if most of the owners in this league can't take back salary in a deal," Cuban said, "the Hornets shouldn't be allowed to either."
Most teams are hesitant to take on added salary due to the unknown climate of the league due to the Collective-Bargaining Agreement expiring at the end of this season. When you have cash considerations being sent out coming out of the collective pocket of the remaining owners in the league, you can see why that angers the Mavs owner. Cuban continued voicing his displeasure about the situation. "There’s so few teams in the league that can afford to do that," said Cuban. "Yet we’re allowing a team that’s owned by the league to do that?"
It angers Cuban even more than a team within the division, New Orleans, is the benefactor of the deal. It is not out of the realm of possibilities that Dallas and New Orleans could meet in the first round of the playoffs. This story would only add more fuel to the fire.
"I don't have a problem if they go dollar-for-dollar, great, more power to them," Cuban said. "You could see if it was like a marquee guy and he's going to bring in lots of dollars. No disrespect to Carl Landry, but I don't see that's the way it works. It's just wrong. I'm one of the owners. The league is supposed to just give them a budget and it never dawned on me that the budget would say you can spend more money to bring in players."
Whether you like or dislike Cuban, he has a point when it comes to this situation. "I don’t need to be competing economically with the league and myself," Cuban said. It remains to be seen what will happen going forward when the league office catches wind of Cuban's comments. David Stern and Mark Cuban have had their battles over the years, it will be interesting to see how this one turns out.
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